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Betsy's Backyard Blog

Betsy Freese is an Executive Editor for Meredith Agrimedia, including Living the Country Life and Successful Farming. She grew up on a fruit farm in Maryland (see www.strawberryfarm.com) and has an agricultural journalism degree from Iowa State University. She and her husband, Bob, a veterinarian, live on a farm in Iowa where they raise sheep, hay, corn, and soybeans.

There are still tons of apples on the tree at the pond. Bob is using the fruit picker pole to snag the highest apples and those hanging over the pond. I have two huge bags of apples waiting for me to cook down for applesauce. I will make another apple crisp, too.

The market lambs are growing like crazy. You would never know it's fall. Our pastures are as green as Ireland.

Plop. Another apple hits the pond. The snapping turtles will enjoy them later.

Bob feeds the lambs at dusk. They are five months old and weigh 120 pounds or more. That is good daily gain.

Somehow, somewhere, Bob found more hay to bale and a corner of the barn to house it.

Besides a fourth cutting of alfalfa at our place, which was green, wet, and heavy when stacked in the barn (we'll use it quickly), he baled the empty industrial park lot to our east. That grass hay was full of weeds, but will make decent bedding.

Early fall is such a busy time on a farm or acreage. There is so much to harvest and so much to kill.

We started with the thistles in the pasture. Sure, the yellow flowers were full of bees, but those noxious weeds had to go. We cut them and threw them in the wagon for the burning pile.

Speaking of bees and weeds, Bob decided he had had enough of my pollinator patch. He mowed it down, leaving one flowering stalk.

Next, he mowed around the pond and saw that the old apple tree had fruit this year (it only has apples about every three years). Boy, did it ever. I picked two large bags full and made applesauce. I will pick more this weekend.

I don't know the name of this type of thistle. Do you?

My pollinator garden earlier this summer. Check out the freaky yellow spider in the flower. He hid and killed the bee when it landed. Bees can't catch a break these days.

All that's left of my weed patch.

I've never seen our tree, or any tree, so laden with apples.

Mickey waits for a bite. Bob took this photo of his daily lunch companion.

Here's another photo by Bob. This farmer's granddaughter, a gymnast who trains at Chow's, was running the cattle chute gate.

All the rain this summer turned my (so-called) landscaping into a jungle. Vines covered the lilacs and bridal wreath spirea on the west side of the lawn, even climbing the nearby evergreen to the top. I could see poison ivy hiding in some of the bushes. Ugh.

Bob decided to call in the big guns. He fenced off portions of the yard and let the ewes have a feast. Once they finished, he ran the chain saw and I used the loppers and rake to clean it up. Here are the steps.

Step 1: Let the "little lambs eat ivy."

Step 2: Clean up what's left.

Step 3: Move the ewes to the next patch -- lilacs overrun by Virginia creeper.

Step 4: Cut back the lilacs to a small patch and let the ewes eat the discards.

Bob got a chicken emergency call the other night, and it wasn't a disease issue with a flock. It was one pet chicken. He explained the cost to the owner up front and she readily agreed.

This hen, named Louise, was three years old and perfectly tame. It stood or sat on the exam table without a squawk or flapping of wings. The owner, a young woman who owned a small backyard flock, smoothed the hen's feathers and talked to it.

The problem was an infected rear end. The cause was unknown and I will spare you the details, but it was gross. Bob wasn't sure he could save the hen, but he cleaned the wound, flushed it with saline, and gave antibiotics. He also put a mixture of honey and iodine in the cavity. Honey has antimicrobial benefits.

The hen recovered and her wound is healing nicely. She stayed overnight in the clinic and went home the next day.

A few days after I wrote the post above, I got this photo from the vet clinic:

Our county fair is this week, and I'm showing flowers and vegetables. Our family was also in charge of working the pork producers' food stand one night, so Caroline came home to help. Our oldest son, Nowlan, also came home for a visit and helped me dig and sort potatoes. Here are photos from the week.

Cramming my flower entries into the Prius took some engineering. Nothing got crushed on the way, thanks to Caroline.

Caroline just completed a fascinating art project in our farm shop. She made a self portrait (of sorts) as a collage made out of 20,000 Skittles. This is an Iowa State University focus grant and the final result, once framed, will hang in the Memorial Union next April. I hope the candy survives!

Caroline first drew her portrait to use as a guide, and then researched all the possible Skittles colors. Unlike M&Ms, you can't buy individual colors of Skittles, so she had to buy an assortment of flavors and sort the colors. She made her hair blue to contrast with the yellow background.

She painted an outline of the picture on two sheets of plywood and positioned a camera on a ladder.

She starts attaching Skittles to the face first. She quickly realized how much glue the project is going to take.

The face is almost done.

Time to work on the green shirt.

The shirt is done.

The left board is done. The background was originally going to be yellow, but Caroline decided orange accents would make it more interesting.

Finishing the hair.

Finishing the yellow and orange background. She is now weeks into the project. Some of the color on the face has started to fade and ants have sucked the sugar out of some Skittles. The shop is struggling to stay cool in July heat. Caroline researches and tests clear coatings and finds one to spray on the collage.

The project is complete! (Frame to come later.) We carry the two halves into the house for safekeeping.